US Muslim Group Calls on Washington to Release American Teen Held by “Israel”

By Staff, Agencies

The Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR] has called on the White House and Congress to intervene in the case of Abdalkareem Issa Ahmed Safi, a Palestinian American teenager who has been held in an “Israeli” prison for nearly four months without criminal charges.

CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said it should not be acceptable for an American citizen to remain imprisoned without charge or access to what he described as basic due-process protections. He urged Congress to use its oversight powers and press the State Department to secure Safi’s release.

CAIR and its Texas chapter said Safi, a US citizen with family roots in Texas, was detained by “Israeli” forces after his family home in Jalazone, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, was raided during the night in June.

American Muslims for Palestine said Safi is one of several Palestinian American citizens detained by “Israeli” forces without charge or trial, alongside Sama Safi and Adam Karakrah.

According to reports cited by the groups, “Israeli” authorities subsequently issued an administrative detention order against Safi. Administrative detention allows “Israel” to hold people without formally charging them or putting them on trial, with the stated basis of the detention often withheld from detainees and their lawyers.

The case has prompted calls for greater US scrutiny of the treatment of American citizens detained by “Israel” in the occupied West Bank.

The US State Department confirmed that it was aware of reports concerning an American detained in the West Bank and said the Trump administration was monitoring the situation.

A State Department spokesperson said the department works to assist Americans detained overseas, including by seeking access to medical care, proper treatment and regular consular visits. The department declined to provide further details, citing privacy and other considerations.

CAIR is demanding that Washington go beyond monitoring the case and directly pressure the “Israeli” government to release Safi, arguing that the detention of an American teenager without criminal charges requires immediate US intervention.